site.btaTroyan Is Example for Preservation of National Basis in EU's Diversity, Says BTA Director General

Troyan is an example in the European Union for the preservation and development of the national identity, which is the basis of diversity in the unity of the EU, BTA Director General Kiril Valchev said during a local conference held here on Friday. The event was part of BTA’s Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills project.

He emphasized that it is precisely unity in diversity that presents the EU as a continent with many different traditions and languages, but also with common values. Optimism for the EU's future comes from the glorious centuries-old traditions of its peoples, and not from their denial, Valchev pointed out.

He recalled that Troyan is part of the joint national and European conversations organized by BTA thanks to the opening of the agency's National Press Club in the town in 2024. "We usually hear that Bulgaria receives money from the EU and what remains in our minds is that Bulgarians are the ones who benefit from our participation in the EU only. But the truth is that the EU also benefits from Bulgarians, just as it benefits from other European nations. The point of these conferences is to see the contemporary contribution," Valchev stated regarding BTA's Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills project.

He noted that the founder of Bulgarian sociology, Troyan-born Ivan Hadzhiyski, wrote in one of his books that the greatest upsurge in Bulgarian lands occurs precisely when the words Bulgarian and Bulgarian production express national pride and honour, and not when they are used through the dark glasses of Bulgaria's self-deprecation. "On the other hand, the unified rules in a united Europe provide an opportunity for fewer and fewer cases of "Bulgarian work" – to use once again the self-ironic description of Hadzhiyski – being used in the sense of "work that is thoughtless or half-thought-out, poorly started, without leadership or awkwardly managed, which seemingly inevitably ends in scandal, serving only as a disgraceful record of its sorrowful heroes," added the Director General of BTA.

Valchev emphasized that Troyan is of important cultural and historical significance for Bulgaria and it contributes to the diversity of the EU, pointing out that the Troyan Monastery is one of the three stauropegial monasteries and spiritual centres of Bulgaria and that the region has given symbols for Bulgaria in artistic crafts, such as Troyan ceramics. He added that another symbol that Troyan gives the EU is in cuisine, with the locally grown plums, to which a festival is dedicated.

Troyan, together with the neighbouring villages, is a leading tourist attraction in the Balkan Range area, thanks to festivals like Jam on the River and the Jazz Art Eco Fest, Valchev said, adding that BTA is a media partner of the entire cultural calendar of the Troyan Municipality. He stressed that an important goal of BTA's conferences, part of BTA’s Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills project, is to make all these modern contributions to the EU of towns like Troyan visible, so that more young Bulgarians see the point in staying and developing themselves in Bulgaria.

BTA's Europe on Balkans: Cohesion Skills project aims to raise public awareness and foster open dialogue about cohesion policy, local achievements, and the implementation of the EU's policy priorities. The project kicked off with a conference in Veliki Preslav in November 2024. The schedule of conferences until the end of September 2025 includes events in the following cities: Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Varna, Veliko Tarnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Gabrovo, Dobrich, Kazanlak, Kardzhali, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Pleven, Razgrad, Ruse, Samokov, Svishtov, Sliven, Smolyan, Sofia, Stara Zagora, Troyan, Targovishte, Haskovo, Shumen, and Yambol. Cross-border conferences will be held in Belgrade, Bosilegrad, Bucharest, Edirne, Skopje, and Thessaloniki. The project builds on the Europe in the Balkans: A Common Future and Europe in Bulgaria: A Common Future projects, implemented by BTA in 2023 and 2024, respectively.